Security agents escorted the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture out of her office on Monday after she refused to comply with her firing by the Trump administration, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday defended President Trump's firings of at least a dozen agency inspectors general, saying Supreme Court precedent allows him the broad power to fire federal employees.

NewsNation partner The Hill reported that Trump has ousted around 17 federal watchdogs within various departments

President Donald Trump reportedly fired 17 inspectors general overnight. According to multiple outlets, most of the people fired were inspectors Trump had appointed during his first term. They were all notified by email from the White House personnel director that their firing was effective immediately.

Trump's firings of the Senate-confirmed inspectors general included officials at Defense, State, Transportation, Labor, Health and Human Services, and EPA among others.

The Justice Department has fired more than a dozen lawyers, involved in criminal investigations into Donald Trump during his campaign for president, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN,

The full scope of the Friday night mass firings was coming into sharper view as one fired watchdog official warned of “a never-ending cycle of politicization.”

The action was the latest effort to turn the table on criminal investigations that for years shadowed Trump, resulting in separate indictments that never went to trial and were ultimately abandoned.Vi